The second annual Moral Monday in Asheville brought thousands to the heart of downtown.

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From health care to education to same sex marriage, there wasn't a political issue that went unmentioned.

Police say at least a 2,000 people showed up to the event at Pack Square Park.

The crowd grew the loudest when North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber took the stage.

“2014 must be an election on, not an election off,” said Barber.

The call is for change when it comes to health care, education, voting rights and war.

‘We all know politicians respond to two things -- money and pressure. And we don't have money so we've got pressure,” said Hayley Archer.

Organizers said Moral Monday has no political affiliation.

“It's not a movement for campaigns. I think a clear message is regardless who gets elected in the coming elections we have got to keep the movement on, keep the pressure on,” said Archer.

But North Carolina State Rep. Nathan Ramsey said it's no coincidence the rally was held less than 100 days from a Senate election, in which the race is tight.

“To say this is anything but a political theater is not to be correct,” said Ramsey.

He said the terminology "moral" is a roundabout way of labeling Republicans immoral. Ramsey also said he doesn't feel like the event focused on any of the state's positives.

“They're not talking about how our unemployment has gone down 40 percent. They are not talking about that we are raising teacher pay so we go from 46th to 32nd in the nation. That's not where we need to be, but we are certainly making a lot of progress,” said Ramsey.

While official numbers aren't yet available, police estimated the crowd was significantly lower than the 10,000 people who showed up last year. Rally organizers hope that number isn't a reflection of how many people show up at the polls.